Temporary

DISCUSSIONS TEMPORARY

AUGUST 2025

Seven of us met and enjoyed a lively discussion of photography, cameras, and photos.

Mark showed and explained his August Collage.

Starting image: Making Churros in a Portuguese street festival. Key thoughts: hot fat, big team, patriarch with the skill. Mechanisation. Production processes.

Mermie’s response. Although this was an artwork it reminded me of food at a molecular level so it became something at the start of a ‘food chain’. There was also something reminiscent of sea food in the image which chimed with the next image. I felt it worked better with added edge blur as though it was in the deep detail.

 

Kate’s image featured sea food apparently on sale. It also seemed to reflect the street food element within the starting image. I got the feeling that the person selling was the expert or oracle and the buyer consulting or seeking something special. I felt the centre of gravity of the image for me was with the stall holder and produce. He seemed to be gently selecting as though seeking permission from the wares to move them on.

 

Brian’s image spoke to the working team and had hand prints visible on the image. I was keen to make these as visible as possible so opted to transform the image into monochrome to enhance the work hint implicit in the hand prints.

 

 

Hady’s image put me in mind of the cooking process which was clearly part of the starting image. It also has multiple ingredients, some waiting to be combined to make the final dish. Likewise the churros in the opening image were further processed by members of the large team standing around at their station, waiting their turn.

Hady’s two bottles, one of malt vinegar and another of extra virgin olive oil, are  there to be used. However, near them are ingredients and processes we are not conscious of in the moment.

Austin’s image was immediately part of the emerging narrative. Cooking, particularly commercial cooking, is a hard job and hidden from view. Likewise, the suppliers, the teams behind the food, and the grafters are all part of the ‘work in progress’. Often we consume their results without a second thought.

 

Bunshri’s image (like Hady’s) felt like it had an ‘at home’ element to them so I have put them in borders like their images are snaps. A view without the elements made explicit behind the creations.

 

Mark continues: After mulling over the collage as version 1, I opted to repeat Austin’s image over the top of a duplicate monochrome version but with a feathered selection modification to emphasise the hidden subject within the narrative. Likewise I modified my presentation of Mermie’s image adding feathered edges. Both elements I adjusted for transparency. I have left the images within the print area to replicate a notice board on which the images might have been pinned.

The images shown above are all unaltered.

The August Collage